Festival of Lights 2014
Festival of Lights 'Map' 'Characters' *Azara the Rune Dragon *Captain Willie *Willie's Sea Serval, Fiore *Sorren Corvus 'Story' The Beginning.... "C'mon you, rise and shine already!" Captain Willi: "Hey, I see you're finally up! You've been sleepin' for days ever since Sorren brought ya back from Ancients know where. Welcome back to Silverport...again! Fiore and I have certainly missed you." You: "Wait...how did I get here?" Captain Willie: "An old childhood friend of mine by the name of Sorren Corvus brought ya back here. The guy's a real stickler for details of course, always has been, but the two of you were covered head to toe in ash for some reason, and you were passed out like a sleepin' log in his arms -- said you were really heavy and that you needed rest to get feelin' better. Something about going through a tough ordeal with some...fancy doors?" You: *Ignores everything else he just said and focuses on the important facts*..."I'm not that heavy..." Captain Willie: "Ha! No, of course ya aren't, my friend...I say that all the time to him myself. Anyways, imagine my surprise when he brought you of all people, back here all passed out like that? Lucky for you, Sorren brought you back during Silverport's Yuletide festivities! Bet that brings back some fond memories, eh?" You: *Mumbles* "Yeah, lots of painful memories -- Where is this Sorren, anyway?" Captain Willie: "He left for Alabaster city as soon as he dropped you off. Said he had to report something important, and also fetch you some medicine to help heal your wounds, but don't worry, he'll be back to fetch ya soon I'm sure -- the guy was pretty reluctant to leave you with me for some reason. Can you believe it? Me, the most responsible person a dear friend and/or Serval could ask for?! Well anyways, while you're waitin' and recuperatin', how about you help me with a little favor?" You:"A favor? Oh no, I know what that means..." Captain Willie: "Oh come on, don't be like that during the cheery holiday season of giving and receiving. Now, I know Sorren specifically instructed me that you were to rest when he brought you in here, all princess carryin' styled and all that, BUT, perhaps you'd like to participate in the festivities this time around...by helpin' me and Fiore of course!" You: "I knew it! If it has anything to do with glass hoarding rune dragons that try to eat my face, then forget it!" Captain Willie: "No no no, nothin like that. It specifically has to do with ONE glass hoarding rune dragon that has a very serious vendetta against me and my humble glass makin' business. The thing has gone completely rogue, and has now amassed a huge hoard at the top of the Silverport lighthouse. You know the Festival of Lights can't go on without my amazing glass smithing, right? Now is when I make my money for the year! Plus I've been takin' such good care of ya...so far..." You: (-_-') Captain Willie: "So help a dashing, retired captain and his poor, beautiful serval out? Please? I'll give ya some cute little critters that need a home with a caring and kind individual like yourself. You like cute critters, right?" You: "......Fine!" *Doing it for the pets. Doing it for the pets. Just keep reminding yourself that you're doing it for the pets!!!* Captain Willie: "What? Oh, so you finally noticed I moved my shop then did you? Well actually, this is Sorren's place. I'm just over here to look after ya till he gets back. But of course, a humble glassmith like myself can't just go and drop everything, even if an old friend asks, you know? So I took my sign, replaced the door, rearranged the furniture, and moved my stuff in here to set up shop near the lighthouse. Great view by the way, I'm sure he won't mind -- I do this more often than ya think!" This port town glitters with the Yuletide lights that it is known for. All the while, snow drifts softly from the skies. This place certainly helps you forget for a moment the ordeals from the Ashmoors, even if that glass-hoarding rune could give Oblivion himself a run for his baubles...' You awoke to find yourself in Silverport. The Festival of Lights is currently going on there, and your old friend Captain Willy needs your help. Captain Willie: "I wonder why that crow Muzu is hanging around outside the house? Never saw that odd bird leave Sorren's side unless it was important. Well, at least he gets along with Fiore just fine. But the thing's got an obsession with rollin' in stuff. If you see a lot of snow fallin' from the roof it's because that crow's out there doing his usual...thing." Captain Willie: "Hey, what's with the long face? You gettin' tired of helping me out already? All you have to do is head down the cliff side, catch a small boat at the pier, row to the other side where the lighthouse is, go to the top, collect a shard, and then it's just a hop, skip, and a jump back to good ol' Willy. See? Easy, and you get to enjoy the wonderful seaside view during the festival! But then on Christmas day ... ' You traverse the hundreds of steps to reach the top of the lighthouse, a feat that you've preformed many times these past few nights due to your struggles with the glass hoarding rune dragon, Azara. However, this time you feel as if something is different. The air is not tinged with that usual foreboding presence that you've associated with pain and stinging scratches, but instead seems almost calm and lively. You reach the top to see the once massive hoard of glass now merely reduced to a small and dwindling pile scattered about in your previous frantic attempts to obtain them, their fierce guardian nowhere to be seen... '???:"So it was you and that rune dragon who made such a mess of this place." You turn sharply about, searching for the source of the feminine voice, only to then see a large, lithe form uncurl itself from behind the middle light structure within the room. Your eyes become fastened on this entity's ever-changing form, however, as she steps into the light, her golden predatory eyes narrow in suspicion while also examining you. ???:"You're the one Seraphina told me about? The Sealer? The individual who opened the Obsidian Gates?" For a moment, you are left speechless. It feels as if you're being interrogated by this great creature, but what's more, you are stricken silent by how her form seems to constantly keep changing. One moment she has the tail of a prong fox and the flank of a newborn elkrin fawn, only to then have it immediately consumed into a different form, as she suddenly sprouts large, aging, ivory antlers and young, soft, brown doe eyes. Young to old, predator to prey, though she keeps changing, she somehow remains the same in physical appearance to your mind. ???:"Clearly, you also have no manners, for someone who has just unleashed such untold calamity upon this realm." Though the Ancient's voice seems chastising, her now canine-like jaws split into a wicked smile, which is certainly an unsettling image. Her once young voice now grows deep and rasped... ???:"You have no idea what you've actually done yet, have you? Do you believe that Oblivion was the only thing sealed away behind those blackened doors that you so carelessly thrust opened? Well, something just as terrifying as he now seeps out from the Ashmoors. An old sickness thought lost, a disease that slowly chokes the magic from these lands and its inhabitants. Like a festering wound, it now spreads, and already some are starting to fall ill...except for you humans of course. Oblivion's curse can not harm those who do not themselves possess magic." You finally seem to regain your composure as the Ancient speaks of that familiar dreaded place. For a moment, you had almost allowed yourself to forget what had transpired there, but you are only more confused now rather than informed. You: "Sickness? What are you talking about? Who are you, anyway?" The Ancient seems to hiss in detest at your ignorance with fox-like fangs bared in a threatening manner, only to then suddenly have her predatory features soften and change, as large fawn ears lay back in resound recognition. Verdandi: "I am the Ancient of Present, but some have called me Verdandi - that which has happened, or is in the making. An old name used in your lore and fables, but what you decide to call me is of little concern, honestly. Just understand this, at the very least - your actions at the Ashmoors have far more drastic consequences than you fully understand. All of the Ancients can already feel what is to come, and the other races will soon notice this as well. A great darkness is about to cover these lands, and what follows is only suffering and pain. Though you may not fully understand what this means at the moment, I'm sure things will become clear to you quite soon." Verdandi:"Enjoy your time here. Partake in this town's festivities, and be merry while you have this precious moment of peace. Live for the Present, because the Future is not as kind, nor as straightforward as I..." You feel a foreboding chill travel up your spine as she says those last few words. It was as if the future itself were an entity that were coming for you...coming to judge you for your actions. Whatever the future may have in store for you, you decide to take the Ancient of Present's advice and enjoy your time here in Silverport, while you are still able. One the Next Day... 'Captain Willie:'Hey, since you've been so helpful, want to hear a fancy rumor? Of course you do! Well, have you heard of the three Ancients of Yuletide? They represent the past, present, and future. Now the Ancient of the Past is a good reliable fellow, I've encountered him before, he's blind, but can still see more than you and I. Well, his siblings, Present and Future are on the opposite spectrum. I've never met them like I did Past, but I've heard that his sister Present is a fiery one. She's someone who lives only for the moment and who never looks to her two brothers for guidance on her straightforward actions. She is a creature whose Ancient form shows both that of predator and prey, constantly changing and aging from young to old, yet always the same and set in her ways. She's the only one apparently that refuses to take on the form of a human, the only one who is not afraid of what she truly is or who would hide herself away behind false skin. Some say she can be seen at the old Silverport Lighthouse on Yuletide's Eve -- which makes sense I suppose. That Lighthouse was apparently here before Silverport was even built! But whew, quite the tale that one! I can't imagine what something like that would look like, but she certainly sounds mythical at least. Huh? You want to hear about the Ancient of Futures? Ha! I'd need, like, a few ship loads of glass before I'd give that one away. The things I've heard, that Ancient makes me far too nervous than I'd like... '-End of the Festival of lights- '